The ideal itinerary for a three-week voyage in Antarctica

David McGonigal

Antarctica is larger than Australia, yet has few roads and no tourist infrastructure. It is run by a consortium of nations, including Australia, that have signed the Antarctic Treaty, which states that Antarctica is "a continent dedicated to peace and science".

Thus, travel to Antarctica is almost entirely ship-based. A three-week voyage around the Scotia Arc reveals much of what makes this place special. Weather, wildlife and ice conditions determine the places visited, but here's what I'd regard as an ideal itinerary.

Antarctica has been declared a natural reserve devoted to
“peace and science”. Photo: Getty Images

Week One: Ushuaia to Port Stanley

Ushuaia, the ramshackle Argentinian city at the bottom of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, proclaims itself as "El Fin del Mundo" – the end of the world. It's a fitting starting point for a voyage to the bottom of the planet.

The voyage begins with a cruise down the Beagle Channel, named after the vessel that carried Charles Darwin into history, to the Falkland Islands. The first day in the Falklands reveals the world's largest colony of black-browed albatross on Steeple Jason Island, then it's on to West Point Island, where sheep share their farm with albatrosses and penguins and you can enjoy a lavish afternoon tea in a hedged English-style garden.

The "best of British" theme continues in Stanley, where 2400 of the Falklands' population of 3000 live in a quaint port dominated by Union Jacks, Land Rovers and a dozen pubs.

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Week Two: South Georgia and the Scotia Sea

Heading towards South Georgia, you pass through the Antarctic Convergence, where the warmer waters of the South Atlantic meet the cold water of the Southern Ocean. It may be marked by fog, and the air and water become noticeably colder. Wandering albatrosses with giant wingspans of 3½ metres follow the expedition ships and the bridge is open for passengers to share. You may see whales – probably fin and sei, but possibly blue – and discover a joy of Antarctic voyages: ships figuratively have bumper stickers declaring "We stop for whales".

Blackbrowed albatrosses on West Point Island in the Falklandsine. Photo: Alamy

A dawn Zodiac cruise at tiny Elsehul Bay is the perfect introduction to South Georgia, revealing a teeming mass of penguins, fur seals and albatrosses. Landings at Salisbury Plain, St Andrews Bay and Gold Harbour create indelible memories of hundreds of thousands of colourful king penguins, from the one curiously pecking at your boots to those on the horizon. Prion Island provides a rare chance to visit nesting wandering albatrosses and see them in courtship dances.

The ultimate South Georgia experience is the six-kilometre Shackleton Walk over the saddle between Fortuna and Stromness bays. The last stage of Sir Ernest Shackleton's escape after his ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea just over a century ago, it's a beautiful walk to the ruins of the old whaling station. Nearby, Grytviken's small museum tells the tale amid the evocative, rusty remains of industrial whaling.

Sailing south towards Antarctica, the Weddell Sea reveals tabular icebergs, giant floating islands of ice that dwarf the ships. This is the ultimate voyage, so of course you spot a rare emperor penguin on the ice.

At Paulet Island, 300,000 cute Adélie penguins entertain you with their antics before you re-board for a sunset cruise along Antarctic Sound, surrounded by sea ice dotted with seals and gleaming castles of multifaceted icebergs.

You can sail into the flooded caldera of the black, forbidding active volcano of Deception Island: the perfect venue for a (very quick) polar swim in water geothermally heated to about 3°C.

A climb up the glacier at Neko Harbour is a walk on the Antarctic continent itself (with perfect vistas of spectacular Andvord Bay), and a Zodiac cruise in Paradise Harbour reveals the wondrous (and very active) face of the deeply crevassed Skontorp Glacier.

At Wilhelmina Bay, you'll be glad you opted to go kayaking when curious humpback whales surface alongside your tiny craft. As you sail through the Lemaire Channel, it seems that glaciers overhang the decks and icy peaks tower thrillingly close on both sides.

Cruising by Zodiac around the maze of spectacular grounded icebergs of Pléneau Island is a fitting farewell to the wonderland of Antarctica before the ship turns for Cape Horn, on the very tip of South America, and home.

Your last day, on the tumultuous seas below the headland of Cape Horn, the graveyard of hundreds of vessels, is a suitable tribute to the early sailors whose wake you've followed into this very different world.